Research in Motion is officially launching its long-awaited PlayBook this week. The tablet PC is clearly inspired by iPad ideas, but some reviewers are dissing it before it even hits the shelves as being late to the game. RIM has been hyping the PlayBook since early January as the first tablet to include wide-area wireless connectivity and Spring 4G, offering download speeds 10 times faster than 3G, which is what Apple's iPad gets on AT&T network.

However, reviewers are critical of the fact that the PlayBook software is full of borrowed ideas from the iPad and Palm Pre. However, like RIM smartphones the PlayBook is definitely professional grade with a portable design that enables true multitasking and HD multimedia, and includes advanced security features and out-of-the-box enterprise support. These features could help it compete successfully with the iPad in the business world.